Senate passes ultrasounds before abortions requirement

RICHMOND – Three major pieces of socially conservative legislation advanced in the General Assembly Wednesday as the Senate passed a measure requiring women to get an ultrasound before receiving an abortion and the House of Delegates voted to repeal the state's one-handgun-a-month limit and to require voters to show identification at the polls or vote a provisional ballot.

On a vote of 21-18, the Senate passed a bill that would require a woman to receive an ultrasound 24 hours before they receive an abortion. Providers would then have to ask the woman if she would like to view the ultrasound. A woman who refuses to view the ultrasound would have to sign a statement —which would become a part of her medical file — saying she was given the option.

The bill's sponsor Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Faquier, said the measure is designed to modernize the state's informed consent law. She said she does not view the bill as anti-abortion, but awomen's health issue as an ultrasound can detect complications like an ectopic pregnancy, multiple fetuses and a more accurate gestational age of the fetus.

"It absolutely does not infringe on (a woman's) right to have an abortion," Vogel said.

Opponents claimed the measure is designed to discourage women from getting abortions using "psychological blackmail." Sen. Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk, who is also a physician, believes the proposal would intrude on the doctor-patient relationship.

"That is not our place as a government or a legislature," Northam said.

The bill now goes to the House for its consideration.

Virginians would again be allowed to buy more that one handgun a month under a plan passed by the House, on a vote of 69-30, repealing the commonwealth's nearly 20-year-old restriction.

The prohibition was put in place in 1994 to help stem a gun trafficking epidemic that left Virginia known as the gun running capital of the East Coast. The measure's sponsor, Del. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Prince William, told colleagues in final debate on the matter Tuesday the restriction was obsolete because modern technology like the federal government's instant background can alert authorities to irregularities in gun purchases.

He also said that criminals are not thwarted by gun control laws, which only serve to violate law-abiding citizen's 2nd Amendment rights.

Opponents worried that lifting the restriction would cause Virginia to again become a major supplier of illegal guns up and down the eastern Seaboard.

The House also passed 66-32 that would require voters to present valid identification at their polling place or vote a provisional ballot. The provisional ballot would be counted by the registrar's office the day after the election, unless somebody objects to a specific ballot.

The measure's sponsor, Del. Mark Cole, R-Spotsylvania, said it's designed to ensure the integrity of the voting process against voter fraud.

Opponents say the proposal is designed to suppress voting among racial minorities, the elderly, students and the poor who will have trouble producing valid identification. They also say there is no evidence of this type of voter fraud on any scale that needs to be stopped.

Cole said last week that evidence of fraud is irrelevant, just the possibility that someone could vote under using someone else's name makes the legislation "good policy."

Under the federal 1965 Voting Rights Act, theU.S. Justice Departmentmust approve any changes to Virginia's voting laws because of the state's history of disenfranchising blacks. The Justice Department refused to approve a South Carolina voter ID law because it said such laws do infringe on voting rights and there is no significant evidence of voter fraud.

Having passed out of the House both bills now go to the Senate.

The House also tentatively passed on a voice vote the "King's Dominion" bill allowing schools to open before Labor Day. The House is expected to take a final vote on the measure Thursday.